After Pizza Shop Burglary, Police Chase and Fire Ensues

There's nothing to stir excitement quite like a robbery, a car chase, an explosive fire, and a fugitive hiding in a canal.

A man who had worked at the three month old

Giuliano's Italian Restaurant for just a day had cased the joint, only

to return at 6 a.m. Monday, to rob the place with an accomplice. An

employee from Publix next door called the police, who pursued the

robbers' SUV.

At the crux of I-595 and 95, one of the two officer's cars ignited into a ball of flames as she pulled a U-turn. The officer escaped

unharmed. In the meantime, the burglars abandoned their SUV, one of them absconding on foot and the other diving into the canal near the highway.

Both men were eventually found and arrested.

Giuliano's owner Joe Darmetta -- also an owner of Zucharelli's-- said the TV and register were returned. The shop window is smashed. "All I'm trying to do is work," he said, citing the damage as more than the worth of the stolen goods.

I was thinking of ordering a pizza from Giuliano's. I'm sure he's hoping for a business bump after the mayhem. You in?